# Cuban Cigars to US



## Sparty4601 (Feb 10, 2016)

I know this has been posted before, not sure if any of the legislation has changed since the original post.. or if I was just lucky. Took a trip to Mexico, smoked Cuban Cigars the whole week I was down there... such a great time. I had two Cuban cigars left at the end of the trip, and two non-Cuban that I brought down with me. One of the guys at the resort I was staying at said that I could legally bring back $100 worth of Cuban tobacco. From the research I did, it didn't sound right, ie can only bring back $100 worth of tobacco from Cuba, not a 3rd party country. But sometimes the government websites are behind the legislation so I figured I'd declare what I had at customs and see what would happen. I told them I had 4 cigars, he asked where from, I said 2 from cuba, 2 from Nicaragua. He let me pass, and that was it. Did he make a mistake, or have the laws changed in 2016?


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## jmcqueen (Dec 22, 2015)

No, legislation has not changed since Jan '15, though I am hopeful it will be. $100 of tobacco may be brought back from Cuba, not a third-party country. I believe the customs officers consider quantity along with the letter of the law. Also, it depends which airport. MIA and DFW are sticklers. Where did you fly into?


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## Sparty4601 (Feb 10, 2016)

Yeah didn't even think about that, we flew into Baltimore.


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## Bird-Dog (Oct 16, 2009)

I've had other cigar smokers try to tell me the embargo has been lifted... while waving their Cohiba Red Dots in my face as "proof"! (_snicker_)


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## MichiganSRT8 (Jan 9, 2016)

For the record, charlotte airport was pretty nice to fly into customs wise, had good luck with them and generally the nicest to me as well. Being upfront with them and truthful is always the way to go, maybe not with drugs haha, but cigars have been alright.


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## Moist Fanta (Nov 5, 2015)

Sparty4601 said:


> Took a trip to Mexico, smoked Cuban Cigars the whole week I was down there...


I highly doubt the cubans you smoked in Mexico were authentic.


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## Hudabear (Feb 1, 2016)

Moist Fanta said:


> I highly doubt the cubans you smoked in Mexico were authentic.


Always so negative. First you attack me on my thread and now you're challenging the OP of this thread. I don't understand why you're trying to stir the pot.


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## Bird-Dog (Oct 16, 2009)

Hudabear said:


> Always so negative. First you attack me on my thread and now you're challenging the OP of this thread. I don't understand why you're trying to stir the pot.


Unfortunately, Mexico is virtually the epicenter of Cuban fakes. Unless you buy them in an LCDH down there, the chances they're fake is probably greater than 90%... and sometimes I wonder about the LCDH's south of the border augmenting their authentic stock with counterfeits for the clueless too.

So, in this case Mr. MF's attempt at trolling may be dead-on.


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## Hudabear (Feb 1, 2016)

So you're saying that customs might have known that and that's why he wasn't hassled?


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## gcbright (Dec 1, 2012)

Hudabear said:


> So you're saying that customs might have known that and that's why he wasn't hassled?


Or better yet, he got the real deal and customs is so used to people getting fakes they just let him pass.


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## Bird-Dog (Oct 16, 2009)

Hudabear said:


> So you're saying that customs might have known that and that's why he wasn't hassled?


Meh, doubtful. It's a government job. Can you imagine the amount of paperwork those guys would have to fill out over a couple of cigars? Not even enough involved to skim some off for themselves. So why bother?


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## Hudabear (Feb 1, 2016)

That's what I thought originally lol


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## stonecutter2 (Jul 12, 2012)

Hudabear said:


> So you're saying that customs might have known that and that's why he wasn't hassled?





gcbright said:


> Or better yet, he got the real deal and customs is so used to people getting fakes they just let him pass.


This cracks me up right here. Way to rock the customs system!


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## the1and0nly (Jan 28, 2016)

curmudgeonista said:


> I've had other cigar smokers try to tell me the embargo has been lifted... while waving their Cohiba Red Dots in my face as "proof"! (_snicker_)


epic post. :vs_laugh:


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## Sparty4601 (Feb 10, 2016)

Just getting back to this post, thanks all for the info and some of your comments. And moist, really, whats the point in your comment?? I will say that I have been smoking cigars for well over 25 years, had my fair share of cuban cigars over the years, and although i can't always tell a fake by appearance, i certainly can by the smoke. For what its worth, these cigars were purchased at a 5 star resort with a smoke shop on site.


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## MaxG (Jan 2, 2016)

Not here yet, but getting closer by the day...

U.S. to restore commercial flights to Cuba - CNNPolitics.com

- MG


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## seven20sticks (Mar 30, 2015)

curmudgeonista said:


> I've had other cigar smokers try to tell me the embargo has been lifted... while waving their Cohiba Red Dots in my face as "proof"! (_snicker_)


This made me spit out my water...hilarious!


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## Amc82 (Apr 2, 2010)

That $100 can only come from Cuba? I would think it would not matter because it's Cuban product. 

Sent from my XT1030 using Tapatalk


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## Bird-Dog (Oct 16, 2009)

Amc82 said:


> That $100 can only come from Cuba? I would think it would not matter because it's Cuban product.


Only from Cuba.


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## MichiganSRT8 (Jan 9, 2016)

curmudgeonista said:


> Only from Cuba.


^^This. And the agents that I spoke to on the way back into the US were knowledgeable about this fact and seemed to be much more lenient that I would have thought. I guess having the ability to bring back something rather than nothing at all changed that. They in fact saw my cigars and everything (wasn't try to hide anything) and ok's it all and asked why I didn't bring more haha


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## atompson (Mar 15, 2016)

My recent experience:

I've never brought Cuban cigars into the US so I didn't know what to expect. The interweb is surprisingly devoid of recent experiences. My girlfriend is a Mexican citizen who went home to Monterrey over spring break. I asked her to bring back a box for my father's 80th birthday. She was very nervous and we asked everyone we know and got many different answers. A friend who routinely brings back from Germany told her to just put "Cigars" on the customs form and don't provide any other information. She carried them in a checked back and declared my Cigars and her candy on the customs form. She landed at DFW last Saturday and breezed through customs without a hitch.

I have been told that since she's a Mexican citizen, the trade embargo doesn't apply to her. I can't seem to find any verification or contradiction of that.

Now my dad will get his box of Bolivars. I'll let you know how they smoke.


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## davearro (Mar 22, 2016)

Cuban cigars are available for purchase here in Canada legally. They are not, however, available for purchase at the duty free store at the Canada US border. This would lead me to believe that Cuban cigars are not permitted into the USA from a 3rd party country. If they came through at an airport, I'm sure it's because the USCBP didn't want to do the paperwork for a few cigars that were declared.


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## StogieNinja (Jul 29, 2009)

The rules as they currently stand regarding Cuban cigars currently allow licensed American travelers to bring back up to $100 worth of cigars directly from Cuba if there on an authorized trip (IE an educational trip or to visit close family; tourism is still not allowed). They key word here is _licensed_, the person has to be on an approved type of trip. The $100 allowance doesn't apply to any other country, so you can't bring them in from Europe or Canada or anywhere else.

The only other rule change regarding cigars was earlier this month, allowing US citizens to purchase and consume Cuban goods while in countries where they are legal. IE, we are now legally allowed to smoke them in Canada and Mexico, we just can't bring them back.


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## davearro (Mar 22, 2016)

I do find it odd that a US citizen was not legally allowed to purchase and smoke a Cuban cigar outside of the US. Who exactly would enforce that?


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## sligub (Apr 6, 2011)

davearro said:


> I do find it odd that a US citizen was not legally allowed to purchase and smoke a Cuban cigar outside of the US. Who exactly would enforce that?


Nobody, it was still technically illegal until a couple of weeks ago


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